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OpenAI logo seen on screen with ChatGPT website displayed on mobile seen in this illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on December 12, 2022.

Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images

You may have heard the recent buzz around ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot that was released to the public at the end of November. I’ve read about people using the service to write their school essays and I was curious as to how it could help me in my daily life.

The technology was developed by OpenAI, a research company backed by Microsoft and others. ChatGPT automatically generates text based on written prompts in an advanced and creative way. It can even carry out a conversation that feels pretty close to one you’d have with a human being.

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Morgan Stanley weighs in on the ChatGPT obession and the risk to Google's search business

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ChatGPT homepage.

This got me wondering — is ChatGPT smart enough to change how we find information online? Could it someday replace Google and other search engines?

Some Google employees are certainly worried about the possibility, At a company all-hands last week, CNBC’s Jen Elias reported, employees recently asked execs if an AI-chatbot like ChatGPT was a “missed opportunity” for the company.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Jeff Dean, the long-time head of Google’s AI division, responded by saying that the company has similar capabilities, but that the cost if something goes wrong would be greater because people have to trust the answers they get from Google.

Morgan Stanley published a report on the topic on Monday, Dec. 12 examining whether ChatGPT is a threat to Google. Brian Nowak, the bank’s lead analyst on Alphabet, wrote that language models could take market share “and disrupt Google’s position as the entry point for people on the Internet.”

However, Nowak said the firm is still confident in Google’s position because the company is continuing to improve search, and creating behavioral change is a huge hurdle — a lot of internet users use Google as a habit. Additionally, Google is “building similar natural language models such as LaMDA” which could find their way into new products.

For now, OpenAI’s creators are cautious about making any big claims. Generally speaking, the more users employ ChatGPT, the better it gets. But it still has a lot to learn. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a tweet on Dec. 10 that ChatGPT is “incredibly limited” and “it’s a mistake to be relying on it for anything important right now.”

Either way, I wanted to see how well the chatbot would work as an alternative to Google’s search engine. Instead of Googling my questions throughout the day, I asked ChatGPT.

Here are some of the questions I asked and how ChatGPT responded compared with Google.

ChatGPT vs. Google

It’s easy to sign up for ChatGPT — all you need is an email address. Once you’ve registered, the webpage is very simple to navigate. There’s an area where your results will populate and a text box where you’ll type your inquiries. OpenAI says to put in a statement for the best possible result.

I recently purchased my second Fiddle Leaf Fern plant for my apartment because the first one died. Now the new one is dying after just a few days. I normally would have asked Google what to do.

Instead, I asked ChatGPT. “How can I keep my Fiddle Leaf Fern plant alive?”

The results lined up with the instructions I received from the plant company, Easy Plant, which is where I bought the new Fiddle Leaf Fern. I also liked that I didn’t have to go to various different websites like I would have if I’d Googled this question.

When I Googled the same question, the top result gave me detailed instructions in an article that included pop-up ads and a way more information than I needed, like links to buy new soil.

Winner: ChatGPT.

Next, I tried something where more shopping links would actually have been beneficial. I am still trying to find a present for all 8 nights of Hanukkah for my husband, so I decided to ask ChatGPT for some ideas.

I didn’t give it any information about my husband, besides the fact that the gifts were for Hanukkah. The chatbot then assumed that my husband is kosher and that he’s into tech and watches. The latter isn’t wrong, but it’s not the answers I was hoping for.

When I Googled this question I got access to hundreds of articles with different gift ideas and links to websites. For example I got ads to Lululemon and Bombas, which are both companies I’ve used to buy him gifts before. So in this case, Google used its personalized knowledge of me to find more targeted results from around the web.

Winner: Google

Next, I decided to ask ChatGPT a question with higher stakes.

“Is it safe to take Benadryl while pregnant?” I am currently expecting my first child, and I know that taking Benadryl is safe in pregnancy based on information I’ve received from my doctor. Still, I wanted to see what the chatbot would say.

I appreciated that ChatGPT gave me the correct answer, while also noting the importance of consulting a doctor before taking any medications during pregnancy.

When I Googled the same medical question, the results were all over the place. At quick glance, one article from TheBump.com quoted a doctor saying “Generally, it’s safe to take Benadryl in the first trimester.” While other results said similar information to what I received on ChatGPT, without the explicit warning to discuss with my healthcare provider (unless clicking into a specific link).

Winner: ChatGPT

Could it replace me?

One of the claims (or concerns) around ChatGPT — and artificial intelligence in general — is that it will replace human workers.

So I decided to see if ChatGPT could write this article for me.

The results were pretty astonishing. Here’s what the chatbot said after I told it to “write an article about whether or not ChatGPT is a good alternative to Google as a search engine.”

As a large language model trained by OpenAI, I am not capable of conducting research or browsing the internet to gather information on ChatGPT or other search engines. I am only able to provide information based on what I have been trained on, which is limited to the knowledge that was available up until my training cutoff date of 2021.

With that being said, it is worth considering the potential advantages and disadvantages of using ChatGPT as a search engine compared to other options, such as Google. One potential advantage of using ChatGPT as a search engine is that it is able to provide more personalized and conversational results.

Because ChatGPT is a language model, it is able to understand and respond to natural language queries, allowing users to ask questions and receive answers in a more intuitive and human-like way. This can make the search experience more engaging and interactive, and may be especially useful for users who have specific or complex information needs.

On the other hand, there are also potential limitations to using ChatGPT as a search engine. Because it is a large language model and not a traditional search engine, ChatGPT may not have access to the same breadth and depth of information as other search engines. This means that it may not be able to provide as comprehensive or up-to-date results, and may not be as effective for certain types of searches, such as those that require a large amount of data or real-time information.

In conclusion, whether or not ChatGPT is a good alternative to Google as a search engine will depend on the specific needs and preferences of the user. It may be a useful option for those who value a more personalized and conversational search experience, but it may not be as comprehensive or effective for certain types of searches. Ultimately, the decision to use ChatGPT or another search engine will depend on the individual user’s needs and preferences.

What impressed me most about ChatGPT’s response is that it was pretty subjective and explained its limitations.

The verdict

ChatGPT’s value really lies in its ability to explain complicated topics as if you were talking to a human, and to do simple writing tasks.

For example, I asked ChatGPT to explain concepts like the stock market and internet to me, and the responses were as if I was talking to an expert on the matter. Unlike the case on Google, I didn’t have to filter through unnecessary results.

I also asked it to write a letter to my landlord asking for an early end to my lease, and I’d be happy sending the results directly to my landlord, almost word for word.

On the other hand, Google knows more about us and tailors the results to our interests and behaviors. Google also acts as a gateway to the internet, leading users to a plethora of different websites with more information than one could possibly digest. That’s helpful if you want a range of voices, or if there’s no single simple answer to your question — like if you’re looking for gift suggestions.

Google is also great for certain types of questions where it scours the web to provide a brief but simple answer right in line. For instance, if you search “Apple stock ticker” or “Cheap flights to Aruba,” it will show you a ticker chart with up-to-the-minute price info, or a calendar with the most likely cheapest days to fly and a dialog box that connects you to multiple web sites to shop for tickets on your chosen date. ChatGPT does not scan the internet for real-time information, and has only been trained on data through 2021, so it’s totally useless on these kinds of queries.

And sometimes, ChatGPT is strangely close yet totally wrong. My editor asked it for the lyrics to “The Ballad of Dwight Fry” by Alice Cooper. It somehow knew the song was about a man having a mental breakdown, but then returned completely invented lyrics about that subject, rather than the actual lyrics. Google nailed it.

Google is also incredibly reliable, thanks to the company’s massive operations budget and years of expertise. ChatGPT is still in testing and goes down from time to time.

So I’ll definitely continue using Google for most of my search queries for now. But if I’m not happy with the results, now I have a useful alternative. And if I ever need to dash off an angry letter, ChatGPT could be a huge help there.

The Rise of ChatGPT: Game changer or gimmick?

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SAP to invest over 20 billion euros in ‘sovereign cloud’ in boost to Europe’s AI ambitions

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SAP to invest over 20 billion euros in 'sovereign cloud' in boost to Europe's AI ambitions

A person holds a smartphone displaying the logo of SAP, a German multinational software corporation known for its enterprise resource planning solutions.

Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images

German software giant SAP on Tuesday announced it will invest over 20 billion euros ($23.3 billion) into its sovereign cloud capabilities in Europe over the next 10 years.

The company said it was expanding its sovereign cloud offerings to include an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform enabling companies to access various computing services via its data center network. IaaS is a market dominated by players like Microsoft and Amazon.

It will also roll out a new on-site option that allows customers to use SAP-operated infrastructure within their own data centers.

The aim of the initiative is to ensure that customer data is stored within the European Union to maintain compliance with regional data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR.

“Innovation and sovereignty cannot be two separate things — it needs to come together,” Thomas Saueressig, SAP’s board member tasked with leading customer services and delivery, said during a virtual press conference Tuesday.

He added that it was important for European companies to be able to access the latest technological advancements such as artificial intelligence “in a full sovereign context.”

Technological sovereignty is a topic that has been gaining momentum in the last year or so as geopolitical frictions have forced companies to assess their reliance on foreign technologies.

Countries around the world are increasingly looking to on-shore computing infrastructure needed to train and run powerful AI systems. That has led to major global tech players like Amazon and Microsoft to announce new sovereign cloud initiatives to ensure the data of European users is stored within the EU.

The European Commission, which is the executive body of the EU, has made AI a top priority for the bloc as it looks to ramp up competition with the U.S. and China. Europe has long lagged behind both countries when it comes to technologically more broadly.

Earlier this year, the Commission unveiled plans to invest 20 billion euros in the creation of new so-called “AI gigafactories,” facilities equipped with vast supercomputers to develop next-generation AI models.

Saueressig said that SAP is “closely” involved in the creation of the new AI gigafactories but would not be the lead partner for the initiative.

He added that the company’s more than 20-billion-euro investment in Europe’s sovereign cloud capabilities will not alter the company’s capital expenditure for the next year and has already been baked into its financial plans.

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Microsoft offers U.S. government over $6 billion in savings on cloud services over 3 years

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Microsoft offers U.S. government over  billion in savings on cloud services over 3 years

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during an American Technology Council roundtable at the White House in Washington on June 19, 2017.

Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images

Microsoft has agreed to give the U.S. General Services Administration $3.1 billion in potential savings over the course of a year on cloud services used at government agencies.

Since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, the GSA has sought to aggregate spending through a strategy called OneGov that’s meant to lower prices. Adobe, Amazon, Google and Salesforce have already come forward with discounts.

Agencies have to buy through the GSA to take advantage of the Microsoft savings through September 2026. The lower prices will be available for three years, resulting in total savings of over $6 billion, Microsoft said.

The discounts apply to Microsoft’s Office productivity subscriptions, as well as Azure cloud infrastructure, Dynamics 365 business applications and Sentinel cybersecurity software. Microsoft is throwing in a year of free access to the Copilot artificial intelligence assistant for millions of workers with Microsoft 365 G5 subscriptions, the company said.

Agencies can easily switch to the lower price, said Josh Gruenbaum, who left his director position at private equity firm KKR to become commissioner of the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service after Trump’s second term began.

The GSA oversees about $110 billion in spending on common goods and services from many agencies, out of about $450 billion in total spending across the federal government, Gruenbaum said in an interview. The GSA is working to absorb procurement for NASA and the National Institutes of Health, to comply with an executive order Trump signed in March, Gruenbaum said.

Around $80 billion in spending is tied to IT, and Microsoft’s annual U.S. government revenue probably stands in the mid- to high-single-digit billions of dollars, Gruenbaum said.

“It’s no surprise that Microsoft is one of the most critical partners for the federal government in terms of its software and the tooling that we use around both the civilian side and the defense side,” Gruenbaum said.

Gruenbaum said he spoke numerous times about the deal with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

“I think the biggest piece is he wants to partner with this administration and get this right for AI adoption,” Gruenbaum said of Nadella. “But I also think he wants to go and take market share from some of the other tools and services that are out there.”

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Klarna aims to raise up to $1.27 billion in U.S. IPO

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Klarna aims to raise up to .27 billion in U.S. IPO

The Klarna Bank AB logo appears on a smartphone screen in this illustration photo in Reno, United States, on December 30, 2024.

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Swedish fintech firm Klarna is looking to raise up to $1.27 billion in its long-awaited U.S. initial public offering, according to an official filing out on Tuesday.

Klarna plans to offer 34,311,274 ordinary shares priced between $35 and $37 each. The offering will value the company up to $14 billion, according to CNBC calculations.

The company will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “KLAR.”

Klarna will offer 5.56 million of those shares, while the remaining roughly 28.8 million will be put forward by existing shareholders who are selling their stock.

Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint book runners for the listing.

Klarna, which was founded in 2005, is best known for its buy now, pay later model — a service that allows consumers to split purchases into installments. But it has looked to expand into other products including debit cards and deposit accounts.

The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission also revealed the company’s latest financial figures. Revenue for the June quarter rose 20% year-on-year to $823 million. Klarna posted a net loss of $53 million widening from the same period last year.

Klarna was initially aiming to go public earlier this year, but temporarily put its plans on hold due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s April announcement of reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries.

It was once valued at as $45.6 billion in a SoftBank-led funding round in June 2021 but this has since dropped significantly, slumping as much as 85% in 2022 to $6.7 billion. The company at the time blamed worsening macroeconomic conditions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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